The Testmony Of Tradition

0'oV>V^

THE TESTIMONY OF TRADITION

BY THB SAME AUTHOR.

ARCIEVT A Rl> ■ODKBR BtlTORSl *

t «(*., 4my Iw. N»*

ACCOUITt OF TH* OfWIEA OP 1BDII. Col-

Icctttl ar*1 K4*uJ. With Mq< u«J a VffuOmfcm-
Oo*t> t»*» p fcl.

London : Kcgui r3uI,Tr»«di,T/1itnxr & Ca, Ltd

THE or THK BOYNE, NEW OEAXCE, CUITXTV NRAllf.

[/ram tkd Sam/h.)

THE

TESTIMONY OF TRADITION

■V

DAVID MacRITCHIE

•utmok <w " ahoavt ARb ** rm%n MUTT IK* *

KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TKObKKR & CO., Limited

1*90

puanb IT TOUfALL ANU KUVDBAf

79 TO if, tO«0 AtH, ».c

P R E F A C E.

A LARGK portion of this work has already appeared in
the form of a series of articles contributed to the Archen-
fogical Review (Aug.-Oct., 1889, and Jan., 1890). but these
have here undergone some alteration and have been supple-
mented to a considerable extent
With regard to the correctness of the deductions drawn
in the ful lowing pages from the facts and traditions there
stated, there may easily be a difference of opinion. And
indeed one writer, Mr. Alfred Nutt, in the course of a very
learned dissertation on the Development of the Fenian
or Ossianic Saga, 1 has expressed hii dissent from the
theories advanced in the articles referred to. It would be
out of place to enter here into a consideration of the grounds
of Mr. Nutt’s objections, even if that did not demand an
undue amount of space ; but it may be pointed out that the
articles upon which his criticism is based only state very
partially the case which even the following more enlarged
version is far from presenting fully. But what is of much
greater importance is, that the theory which I have here
endeavoured to set forth has the peculiar advantage of

• Apj»r*icil to the coJkctvcm of •• Folk uwl Hero Tiles from Arg^-hhl* •*
which forms the ncom! voJome of the lerie* entitled " Waif* ami Stray* of
CtUic TiftJilioo ” (l-usdon, 1890 : pabliihod by the Folk-Lie* Society !.

b

VI

Preface.

possessing a tangible test of its worth. What that test is
will be readily seen by every reader. If the result of future
archaeological excavations should be to confirm tradition
(as it is needless to say the writer of these pages believes
will be the case), the question then will be one, not of inter-
preting tradition so that it may square with current beliefs,
but of modifying or altering these beliefs, where they are
distinctly in disagreement with tradition

CONTENTS.

PftSMCE .

PACK

V

CHAPTER I.

Shetland Firms— Orkney Finnmen— Finn Localities— Kayaks and

Kayak-men— An Orkney Kayak of 1696 . . .1-11

CHAPTER II.

• Zee- Woners 0 — Piratical Mer-folk — Landsmen and Mermen—

Iberian Skin-boats— Floats made by Norway Finns— 44 Marine
People • pf the Hebrides— Probable Finns in Galloway . 12-25

CHAPTER III.

* Inhabitants of ike hies of this Kingdom "—The Isles in the

Seventeenth Century — 44 Barbarous Men "... 26-32

CHAPTER IV.

Homes of the Finns— Norwegian Siaerainty . . . 33.38

CHAPTER V.

Finnish Influence in Norway 39-42

CHAPTER VI.

The Fcinnc— Tbe Battle of Gawra-The Feenic Confederacy 43-50
CHAPTER VII.

Keens or Cruilhne-Fin in ihe Kingdom of the Men— DwaiMl
Tyrants J*“JJ

Contents.

viu

CHAPTER VIII.

Pechts or Dwarfs— Pechts 1 Houses — Earth-Houses in Greenland—

** Interlude of the Droichs " 5^5

CHAPTER IX.

How the Pechts Built— Pechc-lands— The Builders of CcwMoipiiine

Church— “ Unco wee bodies, but terrible tfran* M • . 66-74

CHAPTER X.

StruatfholiL. of the Keens— 11 * Jhmok and tbe SitM-Hkr*# . 75-79

CHAPTKk XI.

Fiant and Faines — Ttath-Ceotury Fairies— Continental Kians and

Fairies— Finn and his Dwarf i» SyU .... Ho-KH

CHAPTER XII

Witchcraft of the Trollmen The Kin*; of the SLIhhruf Munster—

The *' Great- Beamed Deer" of the Feen*— Reindeer in Scot-
land In the Twelfth Century — Pechts and F*ir*rs . . #9-100

CHAPTER XIII.

Hollow Hillocks— The Settler and tbe Mound- Dweller* — “ Hng-
boys"— Maes- How— Interior of the Chambered Mound- A
Dwarfs House in by It— The Little People in Scotland- Fair y
Mounds iuI-iiB

CHAITEK XIV.

The Brugh of the boyne— Tbe Brugh as Described in 1724 -Gael*
wrikj Dananns— Dananns, Fir Sidhe, or Fairies— Cruithnc =
FeUne— Inmates of the Brugh— Plunder of the fieyne Hillocks
in 861 — ^j/A £amfiHa—T*lcz of Adventures m “ Weems*—

The Dowth Mound 119-140

CHAPTER XV.

Goblin Halls — The Castle Hill of Clunie — Tomnahurich, Inverness
—The Palace of the King of the Pechts— Pecht Localities—

The Fairy Knowe of Aberfoylc— Chambered Mounds 141-155

Contents .

IX

CHAPTER XVI.

Scott' » * Rob Roy Shaggy Men— Red Fairies of Wales—
Brownies and Forest-Men— The Amos— A Hairy Race-
Modern 11 Perhu*— Cave- Men— Dwarf-Tribes and Reindeer
— Fygmti I r ulg 6 ScriU*£*r L>uU 1 56-175

CHAPTER XVII.

Platycnemic Men— l/r.uuj> m MtuUtAckan .... 176-180

Appendix A.— Bru^h */ ttu R*y *4 1 $1-1 89

Appendix H. — Tkg SkrMmgs . ...... 190-193

lod «*

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Tm* BrUC.H OF T HR BoTNP, Kf.W CHANCE, C«»UNTV MKATH

FmttisflJftf.

Kayakkkr in High Ska r# /**■/*/*

WlCWAICR OF THP. J URA INLANDER* IN 1772 ... „ *4

Maw-How, Orknrt * „ 10S

SECTIONAL VIEW AND GROUND Pl.AN OF M.M 5 -HOW . „ 10H

Thr Interior of thr “How 1 * * 109

Sectional Vikw or thr Uruch or thr Boyne . „ i»

Doorway of thf. Bruch „ m

Enlarged Sectional View op Passage and Cham-

ERR, llRUCH or THE DOVNF 122

Ground Plans of Passage and Chamber, Dr ugh of

THR Boynr. (From Drawing* of 1734 and 18891 « •• t2 *

East fun Kfcrks or Central Chamber, Bruch or

thp. Bmynf. . 116

DOWTH (Wf/W Feirt Hint** ni ArAvrM}, COUNTY

M RATH . . - f . T . * I j6

Plan or Dowth w 13;

Plan of Passaivi and Chambfr at Dowth . » 138

Bee-Hive Chamber, Dowth 139

Knowtn (Viumh CHcgkbht it ), County Mrath „ ..140

The Dwarfs ok (German Folk-Lore . . . w *,164

An Aino Pairiaacm 168

Aino of 1804 DO

A “Good Fairy’’ of Tradition * 173

RAM* VARMA RESEARCH IBSTnUTt

TRICHUR. COCHIN STATE.

fo Ibl

THE

TESTIMONY OF TRADITION.

CHAPTER I.

In one of an interesting series of papers on 49 Scottish, Shct-
landic; and Germanic Water Tales /’ 1 Dr. Karl Blind remarks
as follows

It is in the Shetland Tales that we hear a great deal of creature)
portly more than human, portly less so, which appear in the interchange^
able ^hape of men and seals. They are said to have often married
ordinary mortals, so that there are, even now, some alleged descendants
of them, who look upon themselves as superior to common people.

In Shetland, and elsewhere in the North, the sometimes animal-
shaped creatures of this myth, but wbo in reality are human in a higher
sense, are called Fin ft r. Their transfiguration into seals seems to be more
a kind of deception they practise. For the males are described as most
daring boatmen, with powerful sweep of tho oar, who chase foreign
vessels on the sea. At the same time they are held to be deeply verged
in magic spells and in the healing art, as well as in soothsaying By
means of a “skin" which they possess, the men and the women among
them arc able to change themselves into seal*. But on shore, after hav-
ing taken off their wrappage, they are, and behave like, real human
beings. Anyone who gets hold of their protecting garment lias the
Finns in his power. Only by means of the skin can they go hack to
the water. Many a Finn woman has got into the power of a Shetlander
and borne children to him ; but if a Finn woman succeeded in reobtain-
ing her sea- skin, or seal-skin, she escaped across the water Among
the older generation in the Northern isles persons are still sometimes

• Contributed to TXv Center partly ifofav of 1S81, and 71 / CrMtiewn's
Afagmii nr of l8Sl.

B

a The TtsHmony of Tradition.

heard of who boast of li ailing from Finns j and they attribute to them-
selves a peculiar luckiness on account of that higher descent.

• #•••*#*

Tales of the descent of certain families from water berngs of n magic
character .ire very frequent In the ... . North. In Ireland such myths
also occur sporadically. In Wales .... the origin from mermen or
mermaids is often charged as a reproach upon unhappy people ; and
rows originate from such assertions. In Shetland the reverse is. or
was, the case. There the descendants of Finns have been wont to boast
of their origin ; regarding themselves as favourites of Foitunc. . . .

♦ #♦**•*•

But who are the Finns of the Shetlandic story ? Are they simply a
pcctical transfiguration of tinny forms of the flood ? Or can the Ugrian
race of the Finns, which dwells in Finland, in the high north of Norway,
and in parts of Russia, have something to do with those tales in which a
Viking-like character is unmistakable ?

Repeated investigations have gradually brought me to the conviction
that the Finn or S«l 1 stories contain R combination of the mermaid my th
with a strong historical element— that the Finns are nothing else than
a fabulous transmogrification of those Norse •'sea-dogs," who from eld
have penetrated into the islands round Scotland, into Scotland itself, as
well as into Ireland. M Old sea-dog " is even now a favourite expression
for a weather-beaten, stoTm-tossed skipper a perfect seal among the wild
waves.

Tbe assertion of a “higher " origin of still living persons from Finns
. . . . would thus explain itself as a wildly legendary remembrance of
tbo descent from the blood of Germanic conquerors. The “ skin “ where-
with the Finns change themseNcs magically into sca-beings l hold to be
their armour, or coat of mail. Perhaps that coat itself was often made
of seal-skin, and then covered with metal rings, or scales, as we see it in
Norman pictures; for instance, on the Bayeux tapestry The designa-
tion of Norwegian and Danish conquerors in Old Irish history, as “ scaly
monsters,* certainly fits in with this hypotheses.

But however the Finn came may be explained etymologically, at all
events Norway appears in the Shetland tales, and in the recollection of
the people there, as the home of the u Finns. 0 And this home— as 1 see
from an Interesting bit of folk-lore before me — is evidently in the south
of Norway. • . .

u Before coming to this important point, I may mention a Shctlandsc
spell-song. . . . [which' refers to the cure of the toothache ; the Finn
appearing therein as a majpc medicine-man

A Fins came ow'r £a Notts tray,

Fa t* fa! to«H-*ch« nwny—

Shetland Finns.

3

Out o’ da. ficiti an’ ox o' dx Unc :
Ool o' da sinew an' out o' di skanc ;
Got o' da sh ioc ia' into dx stone ;
An dare may do ia*ixx !

An ilaic may do remain !

An due ray do lemoii l

In this, though not strictly and correctly, alliterative song, the E- inn is
not an animal-shaped creature of the deep, but a man r a rharm-working

doctor from Norway Presently we will, however, see that the 1- mas

of the Shetland* stones are martial pursuers of ships, to uhom ransom
must be paid in order to get free from them. Tins cannot apply . . •
to a mere marine animal ot sea monster : for what should such a creature

do with ransom money ? As to their animal form, Mr. George

Sinclair writes

14 Sea monsters are foi most part called ‘Finns in .Shetland. JiKy
have the power to take any shape of any marine animal, as also that of
human being*. They were wont to pursue t*i/s . 1 / set. and it was
dangerous in the extreme to say anything ag.unst them. I Itave beard
that stiver money was thrown ovtrioarj to then 1 to pro em their doing
any ifcuiMge to the boat. In the seal-form they cune ashore every ninth
night to danceon the sands. They would then east off their skins, and
act jnUltis nun anet women. They could not, however, return to the
sea mihont their skins— they were simply human beings, as an old song
says :

'"lima mnn w|>o* da liud j
I nk a setkie i* dn sc*.

An’ %*hin I n far fa erery nmnd,

My dwelling fa Ui ShOci Skerry.' “

There arc many such folk-tales in the northern Thule. A man, u*
learn, always gets possession of the Finn woman by seizing the skin she
has put o*. One of these stories sajs that the captured Finn woman
would often leave her husband to enjoy hit slumber alone, and go down
amongst the rocks to convene with her Finn one : but the inquisitive
people who listened could not understand a single word of the convcrw-
tlon. She would, it is said, return aftet such interviews with briny und
swollen eyes.

The human family of this Finn were human in all points eveept in
hands, which resembled web feet. Had the foolish nun who n-.is her
husband burnt or destroyed the skin, the Finn woman could never have
escaped. But the man had the shin hidden, and it was found by one of
the bairns, who gave it to his mother Thereupon she fled ; and It is said
that she cried at parting with her family very bitterly. The little ones
were the only human beings she cared for. When the father came lion*,
he found the children in tears and on learning uhat bad happened,
bounded through the standing corn to the shore, where he only arrived in

II 2

4 The Testimony of Tradition .

time to see, to ha grief, his good wife shading flippers and embracing an
ugly brute of a sc*L She cried

" Stein* 1 towTd*

B«iih de mri da brims !

B 5 t do kens, da first krro
Is aye da best ! *

•Hereupon she disappeared with her Finn husband and lover.

.... I here giro what Mr. Robert Sinclair ttys of the capture of
Firm brides by Shetlanders :

*' Each district, almost, has its own version of a case where a young
Shetlander had married a female Finn. They were generally caught at
their toilet in the tide-mark, having duffed the charmed covering, and
being engaged in dressing their flowing locks while the enamoured youth,
by scene lucky stroke, secured the skin, rendering the owner a captive
nctim of his poason. Thus it was that whole families of a mongrel race
sprang up. according to tradition. The Finn women were said to make
kmesewiva. Yet there was generally a longing after some prev ious
attachment; if ever a dunce occurred of recovering the essential dress,
no newly formed ties of kindred could prevent ewcape and return to
former pleasures. This was assiduously guarded against on the one side,
and watched on the other ; bat, as the story goes, female curiosity and
cunning were always more than a match for male care and caution ; and
the Finn woman always got the slip. One or two of these female Prims
were said to have the power to conjure up from the deep a superice breed
of horned cattle; and these always throve well I have seen some
pointtd out to me as the offspring of these 4 sea-kye.' *

In answer to my question, the Shetland friend lays great stress on the
fact of the Finn woman being wholly distinct from the Mermaid . . .

Of the Finn man my Informant says >—

u Stories of the Norway Finns were rife in my younger days. These
were said to be a race of create res of Attutan origin no doubt, but
possessed of some puwer of enchantment by which they could, with the
use of a charmed seal-skin, become m every way, to all appearance, a
veritable aeal ; only retaining their human intelligence . It seem* that
any acatakin could not do ; each mnst haiv their specially predated thin
before they o>ald assume the aquatic life. But then they could live for
years in the sei. Yet they were not reckoned as belonging to the natural
class of ‘ amphibia.’ As man or seal they were Simply Finns, and could
play their part well in either element. Their feats were marvellous. It
was told me as sheer truth that they could putt acr&si te Bergen— nearly
300 mile* — in a few hours, and that, while ordinary mortals were asleep,

Orkney Finnmen . 5

they could make the return voyage. Nine miles for every narp (stroke
of the air) was tlve traditional speed. ..."

Here, then, the Finns are men of human origin ; remaining intelligent
men in their sea-dog raiment ; coming from Norway ; not iwimi
like marine animals, but rowing between Shetland and Not way— namely,
to the town of Bergen, which lies in the southern .... pail of Norway.
As strong men at sea, they row with magic quickness. . . . Each one of

them must have his specially prepared skin. . . . There is

nothing here of the swimming and dipping down of a seal

Wc have followed Dr. Karl Blind so far. But, while
recognizing the value of his statements and comments up
to this point, it is necessary to give only a modified assent
to some of his subsequent deductions, and to flatly deny the
correctness of others ; because his researches in “ Shctlandic
folk-lore " have clearly been too limited in their extent, or
rather, he has omitted to check those traditions by any
possible contemporary records. Some of those tales were
received from a Shetland woman " who strongly believed in
the Finns, and declared herself to be a descendant of them.
. ... She was, she said, the 1 fifth from the Finns/ and she
attributed great luckiness to herself, although she was as
poor as poor could be/' One of her stories is of her father* s
great-grandfather ; and as this ancestor of the woman's is
no? spoken of as a 41 Finn," it would seem that she was
* fifth from the Finns " through another branch of her lineage.
But, at any rate, tins progenitor in the fourth degree cannot
have belonged to a much later period than the middle of the
eighteenth century. However, we shall sec these Shetland
Finns more plainly described if wc turn to the latter part of
the seventeenth century.

In 41 A Description of the Isles of Orkney," written by the
Rev. James Wallace, A M-, Minister of Kirkwall, about the
year 1688, one reads as follows : —

Sometime about this Coentry [Orkney] are teen these Men which
are called Fianmt*; In the year 1OS2 one was seen sometime sailing,
sometime Rowing up and down in his little Boat at the south end of
the Isle of most cf the people of the Isle flocked to sec him, and
when they adventured to put out a Heat with men to see if they could
apprehend him, he presently fled away most swiftly : And in the Year
1684, another was seen from ftVfAvf, and fora while after they got fewr
or no F jibes, for they have this Remark here, that these Finumt* drive
away the fishes from the place to which they coma

6 Thu Testimony of Tradition .

Again, in Brand’s 41 Brief Description of Orkney, Zetland,
etc/ 4 (1701), it 23 stated

There are frequently Forme* seen here upon the Coa«s, as one
about a year ago an Strvnta^ and another within these few Months
on IfVf/m, a gentleman with many others in the Isle look»ng on him
nigh to the shore, bat when any endeavour to apprehend them they dec
away most swiftly; Which is very strange, that one man sitting in his
little Boat, should come some hundred of League*, from thear own
Coasts, as they reckon FtnJami to be Crum Orkney; It may be thought
wonderiull how they lire all that time, and ate able to keep the Sea so
long. His Boat h made of Seal skins, or some kind of leather, he also
hath a Cow of Leather upon him, and be s-tteth in the middle of his
Boat, with a little Oar in his hand, Fishing with his Lines : And when
in a storm he seeth the high surge of a ware approaching, he hath .1
uay of sinking his Beat, till the wave paw over, lest thereby he should
be overturned. The Fishers Isere observe that these Finmen or Fin -
l&nd-nt/n, by their coming drive away the Fishes from the Coasts. One
of their Boats is kept as a Rarity in the Pkjmians Halt at £4indnrxA.

This last fact was first stated by Wallace (1688 ; previously
quoted), who remarks :

One cd their Boats sent from Orkney to Edinburgh is to be seen in
the Physitians hall with the Oar and the Dart he makes use of for
killing Fish, [and it is stated by Mr. John Small, M.A., Ac., in his
edition* of this book that the boat spoken of was “afterwards presented
to the University Museum, now incorporated with the Museum of
Science and An, Edinburgh*; and a note appended to the second
edition also states that “ there is another of their boats in the Church
of Burra in Orkney^

Wallace's book has also a note ascribed to the author's
son, to the following effect:

I oust acknowledge it seems a little unaccountable how these Finn-
mm should come on this coast, but they must probably be driven by
storms from home, and cannot tell,vbcn they are any nay at sea, how
to make their way home again ; they have this advantage, that be the
Seas never so boisterous, their boats being made of Fish Skins, are so
contrived that he can never sink, but is like a Sea guD swimming on the
top of the witter. His shirt he has is so fastned to the Boat, that no
water can come into his Beat to do him damage, except when he pleases
to untye it ... .

There is, it will be seen, some difference of opinion as to

1 A reprint of Ihhj : William Brown, Edintorgli.

Finn Localities .

7

the place whence these Finn- men came. The Shctlandic
folk-lore indicates Bergen, on the south-western coast of
Norway; Brand regards Finland as their home; while
Wallace take* a still wider range. This last writer (who is
the first in point of time) says this of them ; — “ These Finn-
men seem to be some of these people that dwell about the
Frettun Davis [Davis Straits], a full account of whom maybe
seen in the natural and moral History of the AntilUs> Chap.
1 8 .** At first sight, and according to modern nomenclature,
the connection between the Antilles and Davis Straits seems
very remote. But it must be remembered that the traditional
country of “Antilla," or the "Antilles,” probably included
the modern Atlantic seaboard of North America ; and that,
when that territory was invaded by the Norsemen of the
tenth century, it was found to contain a population of exactly
the samcdcscription as those "Finn ” races— people of dwarfish
stature, who traversed their bays and seas in skin-covcrcd
skiffa. 1 However, Wallace's theory is obviously untenable.
It is most improbable that any Eskimo of Davis Straits
would attempt the trans-Atlantic passage in his tiny kayak,
supporting life on the voyage by eating raw such fish as lie
might catch. Indeed, the feat is almost an impossibility.
Mofeover, it is quite clear that those Finn-men were volun-
tary' and frequent visitors to the Orkneys, anti (more
especially) to the Shctlar.ds ; and the " Fin-land ,r from which
they came is stated by the Shetlanders to have been no
further off than Bergen, on the Norwegian coast. 2

It is quite evident that “the Finns of the Shctlandic
story H formed a branch of the " Ugrian race of the Finns ” ;
and that some of them "came ow'r fa Norraway * — whether
as M wizards," or as fishermen, or as pirates (for they figure in

1 A utiftuisUi AmritOHJ, St»,' Append* Ik

1 It mij be from them that an Wei :il Strati it Called 14 Fshs FUint'*
Bergen is so mich assoc need with tbc " Finns" of Shctlandic trad *1 It* tlut U m
nt lei*i worthy of notice that a spheral caste, knc#»t» as Sfre/j (pronounced
44 Si reck ■*), who are very primitive in character, and who arc rcpnltd Ity the
neighbouring Norwegians as of a different ttodc frees their own, still Unlrit the
r.KTacruiM that protect Bcrguti from the neon. 41 They speak Nonvcgjhn

nfter a fashion c A their own, but it is very difficult to understand thciu, ami there
U reason to suppose that their Idioms have a SMMfcdc root." ('• Burgee," lj
Lieut. G. T. Temple, R-N., in CW fftn//, iSSo, |x 767 ///.y.)

8 The Testimony of Tradition.

all these characters). The description of their skin-covered
canoes is of itself quite sufficient to show that those * I* inns
of Orkney and Shetland were of the Eskimo races. So that
those “ sea-ski ns," without which the captive Firm women
could not make their escape, were simply their canoes. And
the exaggerated stories of the speed with which the Finns
could cross from Shetland to Bergen have their foundation in
the fact that those little skiffs can be propelled through the
water at such a rate that the hunted Finn was enabled to
M ficc away most swiftly” from the clumsier boats of his
pursuers. The speed of the kayak is very clearly illustrated
in an account of the doings of one of u these people that
dwell about the Frttum Davis" who was brought to this
country in 1816, and who, in that year, showed the great
superiority of his skiff in a contest with a six-oared whale-
boat at Leith. “ He paddled his canoe from the inner
harbour, - says the Scofs Magazine of that year (p. 656),
4 round the Martello Tower and back in sixteen minutes,
against a whale-boat with six stout rowers, and evidently
shewed his ability to outsail his opponents by the advantages
he frequently gave them, and which he redeemed as often as he
chose." This, it will be seen, was simply a repetition of the
scenes described a hundred and twenty years earlier, in Ihc
Orkney and Shetland groups ; the chief difference being that
those earlier F.skimcs had their home in Europe, and not in
any part of the western hemisphere. Of course, the Shetland
belief that the Finns could “ pull across to Bergen in a few
hours," and that “ nine miles for every warp (stroke of the
oar) was the traditional speed," is obviously an exaggeration.
But the distance (which is nearer 200 than 41 300” miles)
might almost be traversed in the course of the long mid-
summer day of those northern latitudes— by such seafarers,
and in such craft. 1

1 A recent visitor to the Greenland branch of that family state* tluU M a ski Hod
Eskino car. in his kayak, go even eighty mifc* in one day.* The length of the
day is, of course, on important matter. Dr. Nansen, the traveller icferred to
(mho hi hit the aboie statement la his paper rend before the Scottish (io^aph cal
.Secisty at Edinburgh «* i«t July, 1SS9I gained Ils experience of kayaks during
winter, when the Greenland day s very sheet. If the eighty miles were done
f4ot , the s^ceii is xnrveilcus. It is so, indeed, in any case. Whoa Dr. Nansen
t cached Godthseib in October, the nrsaeat Eu tope bound ship was lying at a place

9

Kayaks and Kayak-tntn.

But, while the “seal-skin" of the traditional Finn was
primarily his skin kayak, it is likely enough that he is also
remembered as the wearer of a seal-skin garment ; and that
from this has arisen the confusion of ideas regarding this
magic "skin." “His boat is made of seal-skins, or some
kind of leather,” says Brand, in describing the Finn-uun ;
but he adds that “ he also hath a coat of leather upon him."
And Dr. Wallace tells us that the Finns * have this advantage,
that be the seas never so boisterous, their boats being made of
fish skins, arc so contrived that he can never sink, but is like
a sea-gull swimming on the top of the water." And he con-
tinues : "His skirt he has is so fastened to the boat that no
water can come into his boat to do him damage, except when
he pleases to untie it" Dr. Rink, in referring to the kayaks
of those “ Finn -men " who inhabit the regions surrounding
the Fretum Davis, uses similar terms : " The deck alone was
not sufficient ; the sea washing over it would soon fill the
kayak through the hole, in which its occupant is sitting, if
his clothing did not at the same time close the opening
around him. This adaptation of the clothing is tried by
degrees in various ways throughout the Eskimo countries,
but it docs not attain its perfection except in Greenland,
where it forms in connection with the kayak itself a water-
tight cover for the whole body excepting the face." 1 13ut, in
making this last statement. Dr. Rink is speaking of the nine-
tccnth-ccntury representatives of this race ; and in ignorance
of the fact that the " Eskimos " of the North Sea had long
ago realized the necessity for this waterproof covering *

This waterproof 41 shirt" is also specially mentioned in

2+3 miles to the scuth, and a 41 kayaker ’’ was despatched thiilier to Uy ami detain
the vnirl, «hi«h wu to Mil in the middle of the month. Thuugli mi«iicco»ful
in his minion, he reached the «**-c1 in plenty of time. The date* of hi* journey
are not given. Dot the mere fact of the man being thus amt as oil capruu
arj»u*i that 1 very high rite of speed was relied ipa.

1 - The Eskimo Tribe*,'* C«.p»*u*t», iSS?, p. 6.

• It miy be roenticoed that the variety mn by the Alaskan F.»kjsao i» nut of
Mul-iti*. It is described is a “ peculiar wiccipruuf cult called a i*j*ulinkr,
made from the entrails* of the seal, and is nearly as lie* ai (Win (oper, almost
eray Inch of it being quilted, to nflrrngihcn U. The Aleut wean this caritw*
garment when seated Ji his canoe.” ( 4I Seal Hunting in Deknng Soi ” ; cum
trlbuted to the SHtomtut of Sep. *3, iS»9, by Edvard C kkiaid*.}

10

TIu Testimony of Tradition.

connection with the Finn kayak that the two Scotch writers
of the seventeenth century refer to. Wallace, it will be remem-
bered, says of the Orkney Finn -men that “one of their boats
sent from Orkney to Edinburgh is to be seen in the Physicians’
Hall, with the oar and the dart he makes use of for killing
fish* At the time when Wallace wrote, in or about the year
l65S, there is no doubt that the boat was so deposited. Put,
although the second writer, Brand, makes the same state-
ment, it is evident that he only did so on the authority of his
predecessor. Because, four or five years before Brand's book
appeared, the Finnman's kayak liad been presented by the
Royal College of Physicians to the University of Edinburgh.
The way in which the Physicians' College had obtained the
boat was through the president of the college. Sir Andrew
Balfour, eminent as a physician, botanist ami naturalist, and
a great collector of all sorts of curiosities. At his death in
1694, his collection passed to the University of Edinburgh,
by bequest. But, for one reason or another, the Finn-mari s
boat still remained in the Physicians' College. This will be
seen from the following extract from the Minute Book of
that College, which records the transfer of the boat to the
University of Edinburgh, two years after Sir Andrew Bal-
four’s death. The date of the Minute is 24th September,
1696. 1 "The qlk [wliilk] day y* colledge considering y 1 dr
Balfour's curiositys arc all in y* Colledge of Edr & amongst
them y* oars of y* boat & y* Shirt of y # barbarous man y 1
was in y* boat belonging to y* Colledge of physitians & y*
the same boat is iikly to be lost they having noc convenient
place to keep it in doe give the s* boat to >• colledge of Edr
thcr to be preserved & j 4 it be insert there y c its gifted by >■•
royall Colledge.”

From this extract we gain the additional information that
the “Shirt * or w Coat of Leather” of the “ barbarous man ”
himself had also found its way to the University Museum of
Edinburgh ; presumably through Sir Andrew Balfour also,
or perhaps through his friend and colleague. Sir Robert

1 For this extract I am mdeUed to the comtsy of the Prewfanl and Cogwcfl

of tVe Royal College of Physicians of Ediabugh.

An Orkney Kayak of 1696. 1 1

Sibbald (known as the author , 1 inter alia, of a “ Description "
of the Orkney and Shetland Isles)/

1 More correctly, the editor ami publisher of a preview MS.

1 Itsii unfortunate circum*ur*c that, uwieg to the lamrfitaUc Inihficcrxc c
of the custodiers of the FinnmaR's nr»x *i>«lh|ucw 1 to the year k wems
impossible to Kiy whether oe not tlmt ttwl is still iyocwbiI. In 1H65 Ik*
Edinburgh Muswmt of Sckacw and Art 1 «vame paww t J < 4 the collection of
the UftiwrMiy, and in tl ul collection were two kayaks, with irpird Ui which
•othinf definite was known at the time of tnntfcrmcc. If the University 14 pre-
served" the Flnnuum's kayak, is the College of l'h)**ioM ctjwclcd, then it
■ait be one of these two, as these were the ct ily kayak* rt Use Unirersity
Museum in 1 86$. {In the hope of ohuinix^ a definite solution of Ui* tp««lN«,

1 hire girea a desaiptioa of that kayik vluch appear* to l*c t U must likely to
be the Finnmsn's, in a paper nail before the Society of Aatiquisoci ui Sroclnryl
on lath February, 1S90.)

12

CHAPTER II.

Anvoke familiar with the shape of the long, narrow, ski n-
covcred skiff of the Eskimo (which, a9 has just been pointed
out, is completely M decked,” with the exception of the round
aperture in the middle, where the rower sits— his legs being
thrust in front of him, underneath the “ deck,") will sec that
when the Finn had fastened his seal-skin garment to the
sides of the aperture, he and his boat were one. Thus not
only could 41 no water come into his Boat to do him damage,”
but he appeared (to people unacquainted with his anatomy)
as some amphibious seal-roan — " a selk ic P da sea,” as the
Shetland rhyme goes. This resemblance is even further
borne out by the ability of the kayaker to overset himself
ar.d his kayak, and then to re-appear on the surface of the
water, without either himself or his skiff suffering any injury,
as both were impervious to water. This feat is evidently
a delight to the kayaker, and the Eskimo already referred to
as having displayed his skill at Leith in the year i3i6, per-
formed this manoeuvre many times, to the great astonish-
ment of the onlookers. Thus the Finnman of the North Sea,
who presumably indulged in this amusement, like his repre-
sentatives in Greenland to-day, was thereby rendered still
more like a creature of the deep, “a perfect seal among the
wild waves,” as Dr. Karl Blind remarks, 1 It is to the

1 This peculiar fei: is meoiioned b j Drs. Risk and Xansem, is «rcO *» i± con-
red kit wuh (be Ctttnhufck* of 1S16. Another “ kayak " cub tom may here lie
noticed. Brand of ihe Orkney Fian-min, that M when in a storm he see-.li
the high surge of a waT* approachirg, he hath a way c i sinkirg hit Boot,
till the wave pass over, lens: thereby he shook! be overtemtd." Thii mani-
festly do** not refer to the deliberate over turning foe amusement. In calm
weather. But Ham Egvie, is describing the Eskimo kayaker* of Qnwtand,
during the eighteenth century, is etideiuly spenkir^ of Uie usage referred to by
Brand, when he says : ••They do not feu «tnt*onng oat to sea in these bun*
in the greatest storm* > lean** they can swim ns light npan rite l aiy n waves
ns a bird can fly : and when the waves come upon them with all tbeir fury,
they calj turn the side of the bolt towird* them, to let them piss, without

Cl.

“ Zee-Wontrs.”

*3

apparently amphibious nature of this peculiar people, that
one may trace much — if not all — that has been recorded of
mermen and mermaids ; who, in other words* were seamen
and seamaids. The conventional mcr-man is portrayed as
visible above water from the waist upward. And that the
kayaker presents a similar appearance may be seen from a
description given of an Eskimo flotilla by one who has had
personal experience of the Hudson's Bay regions , 1 wherein
it is stated that, at some distance from the land, " the low
kayaks” of the Eskimos, being almost quite flush with the
water, - it seemed as if their occupants were actually seated
on the water.’' The accompanying spirited sketch by Mr.
A. R- Carstcnscn of a modem Eskimo, as he appears “ when
the waves come upon him with all their fury,” helps much to
make one realize the appearance of the Orkney Finnman,
whether in storm or in calm . 2 It is easy to sec how a race
of " Mt*-wcners " such as these could gradually become re-
membered as an actually amphibious people.

Those legendary mermaids who are described as using
combs and mirrors were plainly allied to these Finn-womcn.
It is manifest that no amphibious woman (the possibility of
whose existence is not here denied) would carry a mirror and
a comb about with her; or that she — whose chief element
was the water — would be forever engaged in the mad task of
arranging hair which every plunge in the sea would dis-
arrange most effectually. But those female Finns, whom
the amorous Shetlanders captured before they could regain
their skin-canoes arc described as 41 engaged in dressing their
flowing locks” at the eventful moment : a most natural pro-
ceeding on the part of any woman who has just landed
from a sea-voyage (whether these particular women had come
all the way from Bergen, or which is likely— from some out-
lying island of the Northern groups). The re*//// of those
merwomen of Shetland is manifest throughout the tales re-
lating to them. They bear children to their Shetland lovers ;

the Ie**t <Ungef of being sink." (Quoted in tbc ScwO A/ajpzjut of 1S16,

654.)

» Mr. R. M. RiHantyne; *• Ungaro," chap. xx.

* Thi* Uluitmlkai af^enre in Mr. Caretcnxi/s 41 Tu-o Ssamnere in Greenland."
Landco. Chapman & Ilnll, i$9Q

14 The Testimony of Tradition .

they “ were said to make good housewives ; ” and their
descendants in the Shetland Islands to-day are, presumably,
as M real * and human as any of Her Majesty’s subjects.
That most of those unwillingly-wedded Finn- women tried
to regain their liberty at the fust opportunity is seen
from the repeated statement that the Shetland husband
was always careful to hide the * sea-skin ” of his Finn
wife. But, in many cases the Finn-woman appears to
have decided to throw in her lot with her Shetland husband
and people.

Although Bergen was latterly the home of those Finns
who came to Shetland, it is most probable that many of the
stories regarding them related to a time when they still re-
tained possession of certain districts in the Shetland islands.
When they were “ frequently" seenoff the Orkney coast, quietly
fishing, it is most improbable that their homes were among
the Fiords of Norway— more than two hundred miles away.
It seems dear that they retained their hold upon Shetland
longer than Orkney ; but even in some parts of the latter
archipelago they were apparently pretty much at home in
the year 170a This was the date of the Rev. Mr. Brand's
tour, and a remark of his leads one to such a conclusion.
It must be remembered that those Finns were regarded as
wizards and witches by the more ignorant classes: " the
belief that witches and wizards came from the coast of
Norway disguised as seals was entertained by many of the
Shetland peasantry even so late as the beginning of the
present century.** And they were regarded as, in some
sense, supernatural beings. Now Dr. Blind, in suggest-
ing that the “skins” of the Finns may have been (as in
one aspect they actually were) their outward garments,
“ made of seal-skins, and then covered with metal rings or
scales ” — in assuming this. Dr. Blind is quite in agreement with
a statement made by Brand in 1700 ; which is to this effect,
that * supernatural" beings were, at the date of his visit,
41 frequently seen in several of the Isles (the Orkneys} dancing
and making merry and sometimes seen in Armour." It
ought not to be forgotten that although the Finn fisherman
"fled away most swiftly," when chased by a considerable
party of his foes, yet • it is worthy of note that the supposed

Piratical Mcr-Folk.

*5

object of [the Finn invaders] . . . was plunder /' that
* they were wont to pursue boats at sea ; " that « silver money
was thrown to them to prevent their doing any damage to
the boat ; and that "it was dangerous in the extreme to
say anything against them .** Whether such attacks were
made in their small skin<anoes, or whether they used larger
vessels, it is evident that they were formidable ma/auders ;
and that, as Dr. Blind suggests, and as the Rev. Mr. Brand
records, those Finn pirates were 41 sometimes seen in Armour."

But neither the belief in Mer men, nor the existence of
traditionary pedigrees deduced from such people, forms a
distinctive characteristic of the Shetland Islands. Just as
there are Shetlanders who trace their lineage to one or
more ancestors of Finn blood, so arc there similiar family
traditions in many parts of the British Islands. 41 It is be-
lieved that there are several old Welsh families who are the
descendants * of Mer-folk ; and similar examples are found
41 in the traditions of the O’Flaherty, O’Sullivan, and Macna-
iii arm families."* 41 The inhabitants of the Isle of Man have
a numberof such stories, which maybe found in Waldron
and the talc of Macphail of Colonsay and 41 The Mermaid of
Cortyvreckan * is not the only Hebridean illustration of
this feature. The references that are made to mermaids in
the prefatory remarks to Leyden's version of the Corry-
vrcckan story are quite in keeping with the Shetland tradi*
tions. That is, there arc certain attributes ascribed to those
mcr-women which, on the surface, are incredible ; but which
the knowledge that is given to us by Brand and Wallace
renders quite intelligible. The "train" or "tail" of the
mermaid has only to be translated ‘'canoe'* or "kayak," and
what was formerly nonsense becomes sense. For example,

1 fontiauan'j March X, iBSx.

1 C4nUv*f*rary A'rtw*, September, i8£i.

1 c*nt*m/*r<vy AVivrts; August. 1S81. In the AVttiTO (June, iS&9,

pp. 319 -ttO) Mr. C. U Comm* gives vutai references 0 1 this kind, Irish and
Sheilix>dic. Or* insUjKe describee the " Msrmw " at w half fish ond

hilf woman,*' which corresponds with the Shell Andie “ selkie-wide.** or sell*
wonun. More extreme still is the trxdjtxc that the Irish din of Canady, like
the suites of Burr* Firth, «o Cost, ut actually descended from M seals."

4 TreXsce to Leyden's “ Mermaid,* in “The MLn-treVy of the Scottish
Bonier."